150 
OEDEKS DIGYNIA AND TKIGrNIA. 
and no plant, however humble, with these characteristics, is 
excluded from a place beside the proud tulip and the nohle 
lily. The Asphodel, a native of Sicily, was, among the an- 
cients, a funereal plant ; it was made to grow around the tombs, 
a belief prevailing that the manes of the departed were nour- 
ished by its roots. An inscription upon a very ancient tomb 
commences thus : " / am nourished hy the Asphodel?'' This 
plant was supposed, by the ancient poets, to grow in abundance 
upon the borders of the infernal regions. Fig. 136 represents 
a flower of the Eucomis, which, with the asphodel, is now 
placed in the tribe Scillece^ of the great order Liliacem. The 
genus Scilla is an exotic, containing the squill, a medicinal 
plant, and the harebell of English poets, Scilla nutoMS^ or nod- 
ding ; it abounds in the woods and glens of Scotland, and has 
a very slender scape. Thus Scott, in the " Lady of the Lake," 
Bays of Ellen Douglas : 
E'en the slight harebell raised its head, 
Elastic from her airy tread." 
The flower which we call harebell is the Campanula rotundifolia, of a differ- 
ent artificial and natural order. The barberry (Berberis) is common in New Eng 
land ; its stamens possess an unusual degree of irritability ; they recline upon the 
petals, but when the bases of the filaments are touched by any substance, they in- 
stantly spring toward the pistil. 
a. Although we have remarked upon the beauty of flowers in this class, nothing 
has been said of their utility ; the truth is, that good looks, as is too often the case 
with external beauty, constitutes their chief merit : when we compare the advan- 
tages which the world derives from the costly race of showy tulips, with the "utility 
of the humble flax, we feel that though we may admire the one, reason would 
teach us to prefer the oth(ir. Let the young student from this derive a moral les- 
son, which shall suggest to the mind some truths applicable to human beings aa 
well as plants. 
b. The genus Convallaria contains the lily of the valley, and many other delicate 
and interesting species. The name Solomon's-seal is supposed to have been taken 
from certain marks on its l oots resembling the impressions made by a seal. It was 
formerly much celebrated for its medicinal properties.* 
200. Order Digynia, two pistils. — ^The Hioe {Oryzd) belongs 
to the family of grasses, most genera of which we find in the 
class Triandria ; but this plant having six stamens, is separated 
by the artificial system from the tribe to which it is allied by 
natural characters. No plant appears of more general utility 
as an article of food than rice. It is the prevailing grain of 
Asia, Africa, the southern parts of America, and is exported into 
every part of North America and Europe. 
201. Order Trigynia^ three pistils. — The genus Rumex con- 
tains the dock and common sorrel, the flowers of which have 
• Gerard, a very ancient botanist, has the following curious passage: "The root of Solomon's-seal 
Btamped, while it is fresh and .jreene, and applied, taketh away in one night, or two at the most, any 
bruse, black or blew spots, goUen by fals, or woman's wilfulness, in stumbling upon tbeir hasty hus- 
band's tists, or such like." 
Asphodel— Scilla— Harebisll— Barberry— o. Reflections— A. Con vallaria.— 200. Ri«,e,— 201. Ramos. 
